Random Fake UNFA's invading Franchise

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by buckeye02

At the start of year 2, on average each team had 1 Vet QB, and 2 undrafted QBs on their rosters. Then some actual drafted QBs from my draft class were sprinkled in. Like someone pointed out its more about the amount of UDFAs making cuts than fake players. I dont like fake players either, not in the first 3-5 years of my franchise while I have draft classes of knowns. But half of the league is fake players after a year or 2, even while using imported draft classes.

Yeah, there should be some logic in there to make the AI favor draftees, even if it's by 'fudging" the ratings (which isn't entirely unrealistic in that it quantifies the fact a UDFA is going to have to impress above and beyond, or they liked something about the kid beforehand and for whatever reason fell through the final round).

Clearly, there's an issue with the rates you're seeing, especially if you're importing real kids from NCAA.

Sounds like something that could be fixed in a patch. Here's hoping. I haven't progressed my franchise yet, but of course, I'll get to year 2 and beyond, and can easily why it's a problem if THAT many guys are making it.

[fistofrage]

This sounds like an "I don't even want to open the game that's sitting in my mailbox" issue right now.

[ABR173rd]

Quote: Originally Posted by buckeye02

I wouldnt call myself just some joe blow. But at the rate of this issue, by year 5 of your franchise, half of the players in the league will be undrafted guys. Thats way too much.

Lol, didn't mean any disrespect I get where your coming from. I am referring to the amount of issues that players not associated with EA can find in less than a day that should have never made it past quality control.

[Manning2Harrison]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tweeg

Shocking how few in this thread understand the gripe/problem here. The problem isn't that these UDFAs are fake. The problem is the AI continues to keep them on their team when they have terrible ratings. No real NFL team is going to head into the season with a Starting QB followed by two undrafted free agents. Not even my Cleveland Browns...

I understand it just fine. But the problem is not irreparable. And since we have the ability to do something about it, there's a point beyond which it's senseless to continue complaining instead of just biting the bullet and making the fix. Let the developers know what the issue is and even suggest some fixes, such has having the NCAA draft classes include all of the seniors and players who left early- because it appears that the NCAA draft classes don't bring in enough players to support the expanded rosters. But don't continue to beat a dead horse.

A large part of this problem is that from what I've been reading, the CPU is worse than ever when it comes to releasing players instead re-signing them, creating a lot of roster holes which it then fills with these scrub fakes. That's not a problem for me, because I've been doing 32 team control for years. I'm strictly offline franchise, so I would have given up on Madden long ago if there was not a 32 team control option.

I re-sign players for all teams. I go through the list and determine who the team should try to keep. Using a random number generator, I determine who re-signs and who opts for free agency, then use the franchise tag to keep one of the guys going FA if his OVR merits it.

I skip the FA bidding wars. Instead, I make a list of FA's, then determine which teams would be targeting them. Back to the random number generator. High number gets the player, and the team that gets him eliminates other players at that position from its list- no oversigning at a position in my franchises.

I draft for each team according to its needs for at least three rounds before autodrafting for the other 3 teams. I try to improve all the teams. I trade picks to ensure that teams have picks traded to them in the past, and I rotate the order for teams with the same record by trading the picks (i.e. a 2-14 team picks first, and second and third are a couple of 3-13 teams are 2nd and 3rd. In round 2, the team with the third overall pick will be picking second.

That's a lot of extra work, I know, but I wouldn't do an offline franchise without it. Should I HAVE to do it to improve franchise? No, the game should be better than that, and I let EA know every year. But since I have the option of doing those things, SHOULD I do them instead of letting the CPU do wonky stuff. For me it's either yes, or skip the game entirely. I actually enjoy doing my offseasons this way, as it keeps me familiar with who is on each team.

On the subject of player acquisition, another advantage to 32 team control is getting front 7 players that are appropriate to a team's defensive scheme, such as DT-sized DE's for 3-4 teams.

Other things I can do in 32 team control are set the RB carry splits for each team, which actually worked for sim stats lats year, set the coaching tendencies to generate accurate season stats, and give return duties to a backup player instead of a star WR/RB

Your work load with 32 team control doesn't have to be nearly as heavy as mine. You can reset signing, drafting, etc. to CPU and intervene as much or as little as you see fit. Don't see 32 team control as an inconvenience. See it as a tool to enhance your franchise experience.

What will I do in year 2 when a bunch of fake players show up? I'll go here:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/p...s?&start_row=0

-which has a list of 750 prospects for the 2012 draft, and change the names and schools. As has been the case for me in the past with Madden-generated classes, you should be able to find a player who is within a few pounds on weight and an inch in height. I even use real life names from the scouting services for the first 2-3 seasons after 5 classes of NCAA exports.

Ratings too high for UDFA's? Edit them.

As I mentioned before, another option is re-rating the fakes to 0 and cutting them. By the time the regular season starts, they will have disappeared from the FA pool.

In a nutshell, 32 team control makes this a non-issue, and the old expression "tempest in a teapot" comes to mind.

[buckeye02]

Manning2Harrison, if you cut the scrubs who appear in the preseason during the preason cuts, they never go to the FA list, they just disappear.

Also, you really shouldnt have to control all 32 teams to have a somewhat reasonable realistic Franchise experience. Not as much as the dev team preaches realism. Be reasonable.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by Manning2Harrison

In a nutshell, 32 team control makes this a non-issue, and the old expression "tempest in a teapot" comes to mind.

So manually fixing shoddy programming logic is no big deal. I guess kind of like a car whose ignition and breaks don't work...You can hot wire it and use the parking break.

1. Most people don't have time to do this.
2. Even if we did, it takes away the whole challenge of GM mode and building your team up against other competent opponents.

[LaW97]

Manning2Harrison

you sir, have the patience of a saint.

and i commend you for coming up with such great ways to keep franchise on track. i think i jus might go with your suggestions for madden 12 franchise even though it seems as if wit all we have to do, it jus may take a forever to get thru a season

[Manning2Harrison]

Quote: Originally Posted by buckeye02

Manning2Harrison, if you cut the scrubs who appear in the preseason during the preason cuts, they never go to the FA list, they just disappear. Also, you really shouldnt have to control all 32 teams to have a somewhat reasonable realistic Franchise experience. Not as much as the dev team preaches realism. Be reasonable.

If that's the case it's even less of an issue if you control all 32 teams. Make the cuts for each team. Make every cut a fake until you run out of fakes. NCAA exports will provide enough players for each team to just have real-name players. Even if a fake makes an opening day roster, you should be able to find a real life counterpart for him. For me, it will come down to some extra work in the preseason, and it won't have any long term affect on my franchise as far as teams being loaded up with this UDFA's.

And I did say that, no, we should not have to control all 32 teams. The point is that because we can, we should- or not buy the game. Things the devs know we can fix ourselves in such manner are probably at the bottom of their list of things to fix. They've never fixed everything that was wrong with the game from one year to the next, and in fact they always seem to introduce some new wrongs every year. And I'd rather see them fix things we have zero control over first. Features that were in last gen are still missing.

Like I said before, I wouldn't buy the game at all if it didn't allow 32 team control. Franchise mode would be just too broken for me. Maybe some of you, instead of pre-ordering the game or buying it on release day, should curb your desire to have it Day 1 and wait until the reviews and feedback start coming in, and skip getting it if it's not enough of what you want it to be, and let EA know you skipped it and why. Tell them it's another year that CPU team management sucks donkey balls and you're no longer going to to their work for them by controlling all 32 teams.